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STATE OF THE UNION. 



SPEECH 

OF TUB . / 

HON. THADDETJS STEVE 

OF PENNSYLVANIA. 




DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 29, 1861 



The House having under consideration the report from the select committee of thirty- 
three — 

Ylr STEVENS of Pennsylvania, said : . . . , 

M • Ipevkkr I do not expect to be heard in all parts of the Hall, owing to the bad 
state of my health and voice" but I will present ,«» rtew* «i the pending question, 
which I may not have another opportunity to do. 

I reere? sir. that I am compelled to concur in the belief stated yes erday by the gen- 
tleman from Virginia, [Mr. Pryor,] that no compromise which can be made will have 
^effect in averting he present difficulty. 1 concur in that behet, because it is mj 
be lief although I regret the fact ; for when I see these States in open and declared re- 
b emona^Stthe&ion.Beieingnpon her public forts and arsenals »nd ™bb>ng her 
of millions of the puhlic property ; when I see the batteries ot seceding States block- 
ad ™e th 'highway of the nation, and their armies in battle array against the flag of the 
Unl ^hen I se 3 e, sir, our flag'insulted, and that insult submitted to I .have mjo 
that concession humiliation, and compromise, can have any effect whatever. Anawu.it 
Snfirme me S Confirmation 'were necessary, and what confirms the remark of he gen- 
tleman from' Virginia, [Mr. Pryor.] is a piece of news contained in the paper just la a 
uiTn he d^sks of members. Virginia sends embassadors to the head and front of the 
Xir that is propped to be erected upon the ruins of this Government, for the purpose 
o'ging South Carolina to appoint commissioners for the purpose of propo »»J «»^ 
ments to the Constitution of the United States, to secure their rights, as the) say , and 
TtkinVdom of South Carolina peremptorily refuses to appoint any such commissi n- 
ers for the reason that it .has no desire or design of promoting the ultimate oDjeci sei 
5th fn the'iXt^ solutions ot the State of Virginia that is, *»g^*££t 
ments to, or new guarantees in, the Constitution of the United States. Thus ends nego 
tiation thus endf concession; thus ends compromise, by the solemn declaration of the 
Receding nartv that they will not listen to concession or compromise. 

Mr" Speaker, Sowing close upon the belligerent speech of the ^f^JZ^ £ 
.in a yesterday I saw the contribution toward compromise which the slaveholdmg States 
5 ve w ilHn* to make to the Nortlwfor compromise means some concession from both 
M™&nS£$* after that speech, a bi/came up to admit f-sas into the Union ; 
and I am sorry to say that almost every southern man, men who ^ u «t b een appeahn^ 
to us to furnish them ground to stand upon, almost in a so Id bodj t e south en me, 
voted against even the consideration of the question of admitting Kansas, that souice 
all our woes. I leave the inference to the country 

I have no expectation that anything that we could say or do, or that -could £e said m 
done, in Congress, would have the least effect in retarding or ^celerating the onwant 
areer of the secession movement which already pervades this land * d ° n0t ,, \ t 
SSword^w m [have any effect ; yet it is right that the ^^^^^tcre 1 
is right that upon this floor we should enunciate our views ; that f ^ ^ ™^ Joints 
to freedom and free debate, we should inform our constituents of tl e on °i tIon °* th, °-J 
that they may well consider them ; so that, if we are wrong, they may correct us , 

if ^?:lt\^Z y ^^^on of secession which is claimed by the 
g en UemaTLm^rginia [Mr' Pryor,] ana upon the ^^SSXSi to th 
by him, and the kind of coercion which, in my judgment w.l [^^^^^ g 
them back into this Union without humiliation, and ^tbtjn.0 ^^"^o. 

Carolina, which are as follows : . 

?1«^^,^ tH.O.nernlA^Uv of South CnroHua tender- to the Le g ,.latnre of ^ 



7>< 



Bt^SSSSSSSS? 01 th '*'-"' Ji v lll ot ivu8 whicM US pi r ed Amission .^ted to Hoa.J^. 

mentofamendmeDta or%ew guarantees to the &^^3? , ^ 11 ^£yi« tat,,n, l ° '* the P roculp - 
U-tweeu her and the Mnl OoSSSTm M toSSSSStf Sife! £fcg »'' "^otiatiou. 

But I have not heretofore expected that anything that has been done, or could be .aid 
or done here, con d have any effect in retarding or accelerating the headlong career of 
treason and rebellion that now frighten the land. This 1 deeply regret, as I should be 
willing to go to the verge of principle to avert this catastrophe ' 

-iSfn?!^" ° f , the dissoI . ution of *• ^^n » » ff^ve one, and should be approached 
wahout exctcment, or passion, or fear. Difficulties have surrounded all nation, in their 
inception, in their progress to greatness, and in their stability. Much of the* s"cce 
has depended on the ability and the firmness of the statesmen who had the manaSmett 
of affairs in the days of their trouble. The virtue most needed in times of peril fcour- 

SltSTS C °r Rt "' WhiCh r '° danffer CaD ■*** Md whkb wi) l not be - 
< itea to action by indignation or revenge. 

If such statesmen, governed by such qualities, should be found at the head of this na- 
. tun, when danger comes, there can be no fear for the result. The Union will overcome 
all difficulties, and ast through unnumbered ages to bless millions of happy freemen 
Homilies upon the Union, and jeremiads over its destruction, can be of no use excem to 
display hue rhetoric and pathetic eloquence. The southern .States will not be turned 
hTesten, ? ehl rfJ lnd , SterU PUrp ° Se b - V ?0ft ™ rds aQd *«*5l lanientat on After 

now fdt or^heir co7l a t V,! f£fr* "^ d -° ?"* D ° credit 5 ^emnation which 
°? l eir coaduf, t would degenerate into coutempt 

atrS^cS^^fit.ta^' 01 T^' *~*. ^^ ™h, m i«d «*» 

The President well knew that the anti-slavery party of the Mirth never interfered nor 
.armed the right to interfere, or expressed a desire to intermeddle, with slav r fn the 
,™H a ' « h the P'. c l, ngs Qf th ei r Legislatures, their conventions, and their party 

SEfeffdESiTW them • ah ? }S disdaimin S tbe right or the intention to touS 

slavery in the States where it existed. But this calumny on the freemen of the North 
so often repeated by a man who, during his whole politicafl fe ias bee„ the sl^of 
lavery, is not worth a moment's consideration. He makes a vor'y able a"d conclusive 

ref,rrh giU, n | Len8 1 lt ° fSeCeSSi0n; and had &P flowed ft out to its legkimate 
results, he would have deserved the gratitude of his country egmmate 

that thtre ta^SS* "KW 9 *" a *'!** W ™*' he Came t0 tbe im P oteilt conclusion 
mat there is no power in the Government to prevent or punish it 

it is time that this important question were solved. I do not perceive when any bet- 
ter occasion can present itself to decide whether this Union exists by the sufferance of 

**tZ2^i?S^£ T^ 1 " 3 *rr itUti0nal ***S£*o absolve S. m £ 
meir allegiance. If it should be determined that secession is a rightful act or that there 
» no power to prevent it then the Union is not worth preserving for ?3& day for 

ha ever disposition shall be made of the present difficulty, fancied wongs will con 

SMtKr^^^W^ State t0 withdraw from the Confedemcj If on 

ossel £?'■ lt t Sh ° Uld be deCidGd that We are 0NE *<>"* and that the Governmen 

SSSETSftT* P °T e , r t0 C ° erCe obedience > the Public mind will be quieted, plotted " ' 

It d id ™ reg fv, ded aS tmit0i ;' S ' and We Sha11 lon & remain » «mted and happy people 

Th Si i 7r r V C P^ 1 ! 1 , Constitution to make our Union perpetual in Veil' 
ine Articles of Confederation declared in express terms : J ' 

r erpe T tual.-' he Arfi ° le8 - C ° nfederation sho11 be i^iolably observed by every State, and the Union sh.lt be 

If the force of moral suasion and patriotism were alone to be relied on to insure its 
perpetuity, the convention which substituted the present for the old Constitution was 
but little needed. True, there were other defects in the old Articles. The several 
States had conflicting laws with regard to the revenue, taxation, and other subjects 
As Congress could operate only on the States if they refused to comply with their 
requisitions, it was difficult to enforce them. But the great defect in the preceding Gov- 
ernment was the want of authority ; and the main motive for the change was to clothe 
the central Government with sufficient power to perpetuate its own existence The 
resolutions of the several States appointing delegates to the convention, and the act of 
Congress recommending it. show thai. The act of Congress of Ma v. 1787 recommend- 



ed a convention '-so to alter the Articles of Confederation as shall be necessary to the 
preservation and support of the Union." Massachusetts instructed her delegates so to 
amend as to render the Federal Constitution "adequate to the preservation of the 
Union." Connecticut instructed hers in the same words. New York instructed, so to 
amend as to render the Federal Government "adequate to the exigencies of Govern- 
ment and the preservation of the Union." 

As to coercion, General Washington, in a letter to Mr. Madison, dated before the conven- 
tion, (March 31, 1787.) in discussing the necessity for a stronger Federal Government, says; 

• l I ccmfe.su, however. Miat my opinion of public virtue is so far changed, that I have my doubts whether 
any system without the means of coercion in the sovereign, will enforce due obedience to the requirement* 
of the General Government; without which everything else fails."' 

These quotations might be fortified by similar ones from many States and leading 
statesmen. They prove, beyond all doubt, that the Constitution was intended and sup- 
posed to confer on the Government sufficient power to defend and perpetuate the Union; 
if necessary, to " coerce" a rebel State, or to reach the same point by a surer road, to 
coerce the people of the State to obey all laws of the General Government. 

The Congress of the Confederation could act only on States. If they were refractorv, 
it was found difficult to enforce the laws. The Constitution is made to operate directly 
on the individuals — on the people, without resorting to State authorities or asking State- 
aid. The Constitution being ordained by the people, and operating directly on them, 
does not permit the States to thwart its operations any more than it invokes their aid. 
It is a self-sustaining, independent power, and absolutely sovereign within its sphere. 
If a State pass laws or ordinances hostile to the Constitution, no citizen is bound to 
obey them. Nay, he is bound not to obey them. If, in obedience to them, he violates 
the Constitution, he cannot plead such laws in his defense. It behooves every citizen, 
at his peril, to decide whether he will obey the higher or the lower power — the Consti- 
tution of the United States or the void enactment of the States. If he commit treasou 
against the United States, he will not be excused, like a soldier who obeys his com- 
mander, on the ground of obedience to higher authority. 

In order to clothe the central Government with power to defend the Union and make 
it perpetual, the Constitution provides that — 

" Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises ; to provide for the com - 
mou defense and general welfare ot the United States; to regulate commerce; to declare war, and make 
peace; to raise and xupport armies; to nrovide and maintain a navy; to call out the militia; to suppress 
in8urrectiori," &c. 

It, provides that the President shall take care that all the laws shall be faithfully 
executed ; and to enable him to do it, makes him commander-in-chief of the Army and 
Navy. To leave nothing in doubt, it gives Congress power to make all laws which shall 
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested by this Constitu- 
tion in the Government of the United States. After these ample provisions, giving 
Army and Navy, revenue, and power for all needful legislation, it seems strange to hear 
that a great wrong may be committed against the Constitution, and no power exist to 
prevent or punish it. Posterity will wonder whether the statesmen of this age were 
fools or traitors. To take away all power from the States to weaken or resist the Gen- 
eral Government, the Constitution declares that " no State shall enter into any treaty, 
alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque or reprisal; coin money or emit bills 
of credit ;" it deprives them of all hope of foreign succor, of all means of raising funds 
by coining money or emitting bills of credit. Such obligations would be as worthless 
as waste paper. 

The Constitution visely deprives rebellious States of the means of doing harm. In 
the Union and with the Union they are powerful; out of it, and against it, they are 
contemptible. They may not be conscious of their weakness until they arise from their 
fever and find themselves staggering. But, in all their movements, they will find the 
strong arm of the Constitution reach and control them. No respectable authority can 
be found to show the right of secession. All our great statesmen, Washington, Madison, 
Jefferson, Adams, Jackson. Webster, Clay, and Buchanan, agree that the Constitution 
is a bond of perfect and perpetual Union ; and that no power exists in the Constitution 
to absolve a State or individual from allegiance to the General Government. The only 
way in which a State can withdraw from the Union — in other words destroy it — is by 
an amendment to the Constitution, or by revolution. It is not likely that three-fourths 
of the States will so ame*nd the Constitution as to allow any State to break up the Gov- 
ernment at pleasure. The road by revolution lies through a sea of blood, and nothing 
cau justify it but intolerable oppression. That is never likely to be practiced by a 
republican government. 

The pretexts used to justify the present movement are very unimportant; some of 
them ridiculous. It is said that people in the North have violated compacts in the Con- 
stitution. Bad men exist in all sections. It is impossible to form any system of gov- 



eminent perfect enough to prevent all crime. The northern States are no exception ; 
but I believe there are but few iustances, in which citizens ol' the South have just cause 
of complaint against the North. They visit our States and cities, whether in pursuit 
of business or pleasure, with perfect safety. Her orators deliver lectures and speeches 
in which they propagate the doctrines of slavery, not only with impunity, but they are 
listened to with respect and silence. They exercise entire liberty of speech, without 
being molested either by officer or mob. 

I believe they chiefly complain of the non-execution of the fugitive slave law. There 
have been a few instances of resistance to that law by ardent individuals; but I know 
of no instance in which punishment has not followed the offence. Whenever suit has 
been brought, juries have given full damages in their verdicts. Where indictments 
have been presented, upon just grounds, conviction and sentence and punishment have 
followed. This is all that a just people would require. They cannot expect to make us 
love slavery or withhold the utterance of our just abhorrence of it. They cannot hope 
to make the honest masses of the people adopt the blasphemy of some of their clergy- 
men, and call it a divine institution. They have too much respect for their temporal 
character and their eternal salvation. If recrimination were advisable, I think the list 
of grievances by southern men against northern citizens would be much more formida- 
ble. For twenty years past, it has been unsafe for northern men to travel or settle in 
the South, unless they would avow their belief that slavery was a good institution. 
Every day brings news of unoffending citizens being seized, mobbed, tarred and feath- 
ered, and hanged by scores, without any trial by legal tribunals, or evidence of guilt. 

Mr. RUST. I did not hear the gentleman distinctly. If I understood him, he said 
that for many years it was not safe for northern men to go into the southern States. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. That has been my statement. 

Mr. RUST. On what facts is it predicated. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. On the facts of the hangings, burnings, tarrings 
and featherings that northern men have been subjected to in the South. 

Mr. RUST. I think the gentleman said a moment ago that they were hanged by 
scores. I never witnessed or heard of one being hanged in my State. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. 1 do not speak of any particular locality. 

Mr. RUST. There are a good many, however, who deserve hanging. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I know that there were four Methodist preachers 
hanged last year in one State. I see it stated also that, in the State of Maryland, a 
meeting of citizens recently gave warning to twelve men, who voted for Lincoln, to leave 
the place— all except one, whom they thought to be an out and out, incorrigible Repub- 
lican ; and him they kept to see whether they would hang him or not. 

Mr. KUNKEL. The gentleman refers to an incident which occurred in my own county. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I have seen it in the papers. 

Mr. KUNKEL. The incident which the gentleman refers to is said to have taken place 
within eight miles of my residence. I should like to see the authority for that state- 
ment. To my knowledge, no such thing ever occurred, although I live within eight 
miles of the locality. 

Mr. WINSLOW. Oh, if the gentleman saw it in the newspapers, of course it must be 
true. The newspapers cannot lie. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia. Will the gentleman allow me to interrupt him for a mo- 
ment. I want to ask him one question. I understood him to say that the people of the 
South hung northern men by scores. In behalf of Virginia I wish to say that her peo- 
ple never hung a northern man except John Brown and his friends ; and then they hung, 
not by scores, but by law. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvnnia. You hung them exactly right, sir. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia. Yes ; they were well hung. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. They were hung after trial by jury for a crime for 
which they deserved death. 

Mr. MAYNARD. Will the gentleman from Pennsylvania allow me to say a word 
here, as he seems to be passing from the topic of the unkind treatment of northern 
persons in the southern States. I should be very unjust, and very ungrateful to the 
people among whom I have lived now for a quarter of a century, if I were to sit by and 
hear these general remarks pass uncontradicted. It is a fact known to every one who 
lives there, that the South is full of men of northern birth. It is known that such per- 
sons are well and kindly treated. It is known that many southern firesides are graced 
with wives of northern birth. They also are honored, and are the mothers of honored 
children. 

It is true, however, that persons from the North are sometimes roughly treated at the 
South ; but in those cases their own conduct is generally such as to bring this treat- 
ment upon themselves. Let me give the gentleman a single instance of this kind, which 
occurred in my district. 



Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I am satisfied with the gentleman's word, without 
any illustration. 

Mr. MAYNARD. I can give the gentleman an example of a young man in a law of- 
fice, who so far forgot the proprieties of life as to assail, in opprobrious language the 
virtue and reputation of the female portion of the community in which he lived. He 
carried his conduct to such a degree of indiscretion that he was at last seized" upon by 
a company of young men and — in common parlance — ridden on a rail, and driven from 
the place. He has brought a suit for damages against those who so treated him. The 
suit has not yet been tried; but he will doubtless recover such an amount of damages 
as the jury may think that, under the circumstances, he deserves. Never, since Sancho 
Panza was tossed in the blanket, in any part of the world, either north or south, have 
men been permitted, with impunity, to outrage the sentiments and feelings of commu- 
nities into which they have obtruded themselves unbidden. It is one of the fundamen- 
tal laws of hospitality, that good manners alone insure to a stranger a civil treatment. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I do not refer to that sort of public opinion. I re- 
fer to another topic.altogether. 

Mr. WEBSTER. I ask the gentleman to allow me one minute. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I do not like to say " no ;" but my time is passing 
rapidly. 

Mr. WEBSTER. Well, sir, our districts run together for some distance, and as the 
gentleman has referred to what he says occurred in Chester county in respect to kid- 
napping, I desire to state one or two circumstances which I know to be facts. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I have stated nothing that I do not know to be facts. 

Mr. WEBSTER. Well, sir, the gentleman has referred to certain events which he says 
happened in my district. Now, Mr. Speaker, I have, no wish to enter upon crimination 
and recrimination. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. If the object of the gentleman be recrimination. I 
cannot yield the floor for that purpose. 

Mr. WEBSTER. Well, sir, I desire only to refer to an occurrence which- took place 
in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A man from my State went to Carlisle to reclaim a slave 
who had fled from him, and was murdered in his attempt to arrest his own slave. An- 
other gentleman went from Baltimore county, in my district, to the gentleman's State to 
reclaim his slave who had escaped, and he was murdered at Christina while endeavoring 
to effect the reclamation; and no man in either case was ever brought to justice for the act. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I know something about that myself; but I do not 
see the necessity of bringing it in here. 

Mr. WEBSTER. The gentleman should not make charges against the people of Ma- 
ryland, if he does not expect a reply. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I have not-^nade any charges that are not true. 
The fact to which the gentleman now refers, is simply that a man from Maryland came 
into Pennsylvania to reclaim his slave, and in attempling to carry out that purpose, his 
own slaveWtook his life. 

Mr. WEBSTER. There was a great crowd of persons aiding and abetting. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. No, sir ; there were only two white persons pre- 
sent, the rest were negroes. 

Mr. WEBSTER. It was shown before the court, that there was a great crowd of 
white men and negroes, all together there. 

Mr. JUNKIN. No, sir ; no white man had any hand in the matter. 

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. The rights of conscience and freedom of speech 
are forbidden to northern men. They are not allowed to receive or read documents 
which deny the justice of slavery. A citizen of Virginia, at the late election, voted for 
the man of his choice, Mr. Lincoln, and was seized in broad daylight, in the midst of 
the respectable people of the place, his face blacked, and he expelled from his home. 
Sir, the South, at this moment, is a hideous despotism, so far as northern citizens are 
concerned. Their courts are inaccessible to secure redress. The slave trade is openlj- 
justified. When a slaving pirate is sent them for trial, with the fullest proof of guilt, 
the bills are either ignored or juries acquit^ 

I have omitted the real aggression which one of the States frankly assigns as the rea- 
son for secession. The North has taken from them the power of the Government, which 
they have held so long. According to the strictest forms and principles of the Consti- 
tution, they have elected the man of their choice President of the United States. No 
violence was used ; no malpractice is charged ; but the American people dared to dis- 
obey the commands of slavery ; and this is proclaimed as just cause of secession and 
civil war. Sir, has it come to this ? Cannot the people of the United States choose 
whom they please President, without stirring up rebellion, and requiriug humiliation, 
concessions, and compromises to appease the insurgents? Sir, I would take no steps to 
propitiate such a feeling. Rather than show repentance for the election Mr. Lincoln. 



with all it«i consequences, 1 would see this Government crumble into a thousand atoms. 
If I cannot be a freeman, let me cease to exist. 

The committee of thirty-three have shown their estimate of the magnitude of southern 
grievances by a most delicate piece of satire. As a cure for their wrongs, and to seducp 
back rebellious States, tbey offer to admit as a State about two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand square miles of volcanic desert, with less than a thousand white Anglo-Saxon in- 
habitants, and some forty or fifty thousand Indians, Mustees, and Mexicans, who do not 
ask admission, and who have shown their capacity for self-government by the infamous 
slave code whicli they have passed, which establishes the most cruel kind of black and 
white slavery. To be sure, the distinguished chairman of that committee, [Mr. Corwin] 
seems to have become enamored of peonage, lie looks upon it as a benevolent institu- 
tion, which saves the poor man's cow to furnish milk for his children, by selling the 
father instead of the cow. 

Mr. OTERO. Will the gentleman allow me to explain that peon law ? 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. Certainly ; if it does not come out of my time. 

Mr. OTERO. I have got the law here. 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. Ah, the gentleman is going to make an argument. 

Mr. OTERO. Oh, no ; I am only going to refer to the law. I have here the law to 
which, I presume, the gentleman has reference. It is the one which was attempted to 
be repealed by the bill of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Bingham] last session. 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. The same one. 

Mr. OTERO. I want to have this portion of the law read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

" No court of this territory shall have jurisdiction, nor shall hike cognizance of any cause for the parental 
correction that masters may give their servants for neglect of their duties as servants, fur thevare considered 
as domestic servants to their masters, and they should correct their neglects and faults; for as soldiers are 
punished by their chiefs, without the intervention of the civil authority, by reason of the salary they enjoy, 
an equal right should be granted those persons who pay their money to be served in the protection of their 
property : Provided, that such correction shall not be inflicted in a cruel manner with clubs or stripes.'' 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. Oh, no ; the punishment, as I understand it. is to 
be inflicted with cat-'o-nine-tails. [Laughter.] 

Mr. OTERO. I hope the gentleman will act fairly in presenting this case. 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. There is a clause in the law which provides that 
anybody can take up a servant if he is found out after dark, and have him lashed tnirty- 
nine times on the bare back. 

Mr. OTERO. Is that in this law ? 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. Yes. 

Mr. OTERO. The gentleman may read the entire law, and he will not find it. 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. It is in the laws of New Mexico. 

Mr. OTERO. These are the laws of New Mexico. 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. I do not know whether that is in your edition. 

Mr. OTERO. I desire to make an explanation of this subject just here, and at this 
time. This law is translated from the Spanish, it having been originally introduced and 
passed in that language. I want to read now the Spanish version of it. [Laughter.] 
I hope this matter will not be treated with levity. The term in the original law is so 
different in its significance, and so forcible, that it will even attract the attention of the 
gentlemen himself, notwithstanding it is in the Spanish language. The translation of 
the act, as read, is entirely incorrect. The word " correction" should be qualified by 
the adjective " parental," as it is in the original Spanish. The law would then read, 
that no court in the Territory should have jurisdiction nor cognizance of any cause for 
the " parental correction" that a master may give to his servant. Now the word " cor- 
rection" is not even the term used in the original law, as passed by the Legislature. 
The terms used in the act are " reconv endows familiares" which do not even mean pa- 
rental correction. The correct translation of these words is, "a familiar or parental rep- 
rimand," which everybody will admit is a very mild correction indeed. 

And again, the proviso of the law positively forbids that such correction shall be in- 
flicted in a cruel manner with clubs and stripes. Now, they cannot be shut up in a room 
or deprived of food, for that would be considered cruel. All that the law says, when 
correctly translated, is, that " no court shall have jurisdiction, nor shall take cognizance 
of any cause for the parental reprimand that masters may give their servants for neglect 
of their duties as servants. That is the correct translation, and such is the meaning of 
the words " reconvenciones familiares." 

Mr. STEPHENS, of Pennsylvania. Then I take it for granted that slavery in New 
Mexico means nothing more than parental admonition. [Laughter.] 

The secession and rebellion of the South have been inculcated as a doctrine for twenty 
years past among slaveholding communities. At one time the tariff was deemed a sufficient 
cause ; then the exclusion of slavery from the free Territories ; then some violations of 



the fugitive slave law. Now the culminating cause is the election of a President who 
does not believe in the benefits of slavery, or approve of that great missionary enterprise, 
the slave trade. The truth is, all these things are mere pretenses. The restless spirits 
of the fc'outh desire to have a slave empire, and they use these things as excuses. Some 
of them desire a more brilliant and stronger government than a Republic. Their do- 
mestic institutions, and the social inequality of their free people, naturally prepare them 
for a monarchy surrounded by a lordly nobility — for a throne founded on the neck of labor. 

The men now on the stage of action must determine whether they have courage 
enough to maintain the institutions which their fathers gave them. 

This is a great responsibility, but in my judgment not a difficult one I would cer- 
tainly not advise the shedding of American blood, except as a last resort. If it should 
become necessary, I see no difficulty with the ordinary forces of the United States, to 
dissipate the rebels, whether of high or low degree. 

But before a resort to arms, the ordinary tribunals of the country should be tried. 
There are laws against treason, misprision of treason, murder and sedition. Many citi- 
zens will inquire, dare we violate these laws ; dare we commit these crimes ? Shall we 
not finally be overtaken by vengeance? 

I do not say that a State can commit treason. Corporations cannot be hanged. But 
if a State pass treasonable acts, and individuals attempt to execute them, and thus come 
in armed collision with the Government, they will be guilty of treason, and the State 
enactments will be no shield, for they will be nullities. 

I am aware that the most guilty would be the most likely to escape the proper pun- 
ishment. The legislators who decreed the conflict and ordered the rebellion would not 
be apt to be present at the overt act. The civilians would be in council ; the soldiers 
in battle. The passing seditious laws merely, and ordering others to execute them — 
although moral treason and misprison of treason — is not, in my judgment, treason. 
•'Treason against the United States consists only in levying war against them, or in. 
adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." In England, even after her 
great conservative act, the statute of treason, it was not necessary to be present at the 
overt act, or so near as to be able to give physical aid. Conspiring, plotting, and coun- 
seling others to do the act, although at a distance, made them principals in treason ; for 
by the common law, those who encouraged, advised, or contrived the act, or who gave 
aid to the felon after the act, were accessories in felonies ; but as mere could be no ac- 
cessories in treason, the common law converted such as would have been accessories in 
felonies into principals in treason. But we have no common law ; and those only are 
traitors who potentially committed the overt act. Under our Constitution there is neither 
constructive nor accessorial treason. 

I am aware that a judge of the district court of the United States in Pennsylvania 
laid down a different doctrine, in a charge to the grand jury. He held that those abo- 
lition lecturers who incited slaves to escape would be guilty of any treason which any- 
where was perpetrated by armed resistance to the fugitive-slave law. But I think he 
said it in ignorance of the law. I do not think that even the northern men who en- 
courage the South in rebellion can be made criminally guilty of the treasonable conflict 
which they stimulate. I should regret to see the respectable members of the late Union 
meeting in Philadelphia (including a learned judge of the supreme court) placed in 
that unpleasant position. But if it should be impossible, as it may be, to execute the 
criminal laws in the midst of an infected population, I think there are other means 
which will prove effectual. 

South Carolina (and when I speak of South Carolina, I mean to include under that 
name all seceding States, to avoid prolixity, and thus what I say of her shall apply to 
all that have or may secede) has, with others, declared herself out of the Union ; aud 
no doubt fancies that she is so. What ought to be done? Send no armies there to 
wage civil war, as alarmists pretend. The General Government should annul all postal 
laws within her Territory, and stop the mails at the line of the State. Who will suffer 
by that ? For the last year, the revenue derived from postage in South Carolina was 
$107,536; the expense of transportation $319,068; leaving a deficit of $211,532 to be 
paid by the Government. This saving could be borne by the United States. How it 
will affect South Carolina, her citizens will soon discover. 

There are but a few other federal laws which it will be important to enforce. The regulations of com- 
merce and the collection of the revenue by the General Government is the strong arm which will hold the 
Union together and punish refractory members without bloodshed. The revenue collected at Charleston for 
the last fiscal year is $379,875 97 ; the expense of collection was $70,542 97 ; leaving a net surplus of $309,- 
333. Let the revenue laws be executed, and the mouey paid into the Treasury ; it will help to pay the ex- 
penses caused by the refractory member, and leave the new empire to direct taxation to support their great 
burden. How long the people will submit to this cannot be told to a mathematical certainty. Not long, I 
predict. 

But it maybe that this mixed empire, consisting of a little over one-third whites, and a little less than 
two thirds colored persons, may attempt to collect the revenue within the district of South Carolina. This, 
of course, would be a direct violation of the Constitution, and would justify armed resistance. If the prcs- 



fiit Administration liu.l done Its duty there would have been no necessity for shedding blood. Within tho 
II Ktion district of South Carolina the Government hud several formidable forts. Had they been properly 
■ran isoncd and supplied when it berime evident that, South Carolina would secede and seize them, they 
could have been impregnable. No ships could enter the harbor of Charleston without the consent 
of those who held those forts. The revenues might have been collected anywhere in the harbor or district. 
II necessary, an armed vessel or two might have been stationed there, and the revenue laws would have been 

easily enforced. 
One fort still remains to us there, with less than one-eighth of the proper garrison, or provisions, ormuni- 

"Tkuow i't'lias been suggested that the President intentionally left those forts in a defenseless condition, 
that South farolinu might seize them before his successor had time to take means tor their safety. I cannot 
brine myself to believe it ; 1 will not believe it; for it would make Mr. Buchanan a more odious traitor than 
Benedict Arnold. Every drop of blood that shall be shed in the conflict would sit heavy on his soul for- 
ever The charge seems to receive some countenance from the fact that but a handful of men are in the re- 
maining fort Without any effectual attempt to reinforce them; while tho rebels are inclosing them with 
formidable works, and openly declare the intention to take it. An effort waa made to send men and pro- 
visions there, it is trie--. Hut our (lag was insulted, and the unarmed vessel driven off; and no effort has 
been made to avenge the insult. Tame, spiritless Administration ! Were the traitor Floyd still at the head 
of the War Department, we could understand it. It looks as if those few soldiers were predestined victims. 
I hive full confidence that the gallant officer in command will successfully defend the stars and stripes, or 
gloriously descend, with his last soldier, to his gory bed. If they should be sacrificed, how wretched must 
Tie the miserable man who permits it! The fires of remorse will forever burn in his bosom as fiercely as 
the inferpal fires of Pblegethon 1 

According to my view, as our operations in coercion will bo by sea, blood need not be shed. If it should 
be, on the heads of the malefactors let it rest. 

Will South Carolina attempt to build a tleet to drive off our Navy? She has neither money nor credit 
to buy one. Let us examine her capacity for ship-building. When high-swelling words are used, it is well 
to look at the size of the animal that emits them. There have been such things as "mighty voices, and 
nothiii" else." I know that some small States have a large capacity for ship-building, like Tyre, Venice, 
Holland or England. In 1859 Maine built about forty thousand tons of registered vessels. Even Vermont, 
who from none of her highest mountains can see the ocean with a spy-glass, built for tonnage 119 tons. The 
same year Sonth Carolina built 64 tons! This fleet, I learn from the register, consisted of a small steamer 
and a canal boat ! So of the other rebellious States. 

But she proposes to enter into treaty stipulations with Europe, and, by granting free trade, attract the 
direct trade of commercial nations. But she cannot do that without a direct violation of the Constitution. 
-N,, State shall enter into any treaty, alliance." &c. Although she may disregard that provision, being in 
rebellion, vet no foreign nation, being warned that it is a violation of the supreme law of the nation, will 
venture to negotiate. Her embassadors will not be received in a single Court in Europe— it would be just 
riui-.e of war" Nor can she negotiate with a State. The Constitution is careful to prohibit treaties with 
foreign nations; and it adds: -'Alliance or confederation." She could not confederate, even with tho inde- 
pendent, free-trading island of Manhattan. 

If the revenue could not he thus collected, and smuggling prevented, the Government should abolish all 
laws establishing ports of entry and collection districts within the seceding States, and prevent all vessels, 
foreign or domestic, from entering or leaving any of their ports. How will she send her cotton and other 
surplus products abroad? She cannot load a vessel in her own harbors, for there are no national officers 
to give hera clearance. The vessel would be without papers, without nationality, and a prize to the first 
captors. 1 low forlorn must be her condition! Without commerce, without industry, her seaports would 
he barren wastes. With a flag recognized by no civilized nation ; with no vessel entering her ports, except 
now and then a low black schooner scudding iu from the river Congo; with no ally or sympathizer except 
the King of Dahomy. ,.,■,„,, 

If these States will have war, who is to protect them against their own domestic foes 1 They now trem- 
ble when a madman and a score of followers invade them. If a citizen declare his opposition to slavery, 
they hang him ; and declare, as a justification, that it is necessary for their personal safety : because they 
say they are standing on the thin crust of a raging volcano, which the least jar will crack, and plunge them 
in. How, then, will it withstand the booming of cannon and the clash of arms? 

Sir, the attempt of one or more of these cotton States to force this Government to dissolve the Union is 
absurd. Those who counsel the Government to let them go, and destroy the national Union, are preaching 
moral treason. I can understand such doctrine from those who conscientiously dislike a partnership in 
slaveholdiug— who desire to sco this empire severed along tho black line, so that they could live in a free 
Republic. ■ 

Let no slave State flatter itself that it can dissolve the Union now. and then reconstruct it on better terms. 
The present Constitution was formed in our weakness. Some of its compromises were odious, and have 
become more so by the unexpected increase of slaves, who were expected soon to run out. But now, in 
our strength, the conscience of the North would not allow them to enter into such partnership with slave- 
holding, ""if this Union should be dissolved, its reconstruction would embrace one empire wholly slave- 
holding, and one republic wholly free. While we will religiously observe the present compact, nor attempt 
to be absolved from it, yet if it should bo torn to pieces by rebels, our next United States will contain no 
foot of ground on which a slave can tread, no breath of air which a slave can breathe. Then we can 
boast of liberty. Then we can rise and expand to the full stature of untrammeled freemen, and hope for 
God's blessings. Then tho bondmen who break their chains will find a city of refuge. Our neighboring- 
slave empire must consider how it will affect their peculiar institution. They will be surrounded by free- 
dom, with the civilized world scowling upon them. 

Much as I dislike the responsibility and reproach of slavery, I recoil from such a remedy. Let us be pa 
tient. faithful to all constitutional engagements, and await the time of tho Disposer of Events. Let us not 
destroy this grand fabric of freedom, which, when once dissolved, will never be rebuilt. Let there be no 
blood shed until the last moment; but let no.cowardly counsels unnerve the people; and then, at last, if 
needs be, let every one he ready to gird on his armor, and do his duty. 

Sir, I am reminded that this is not the language of Pennsylvania, as represented by the united voice of 
her two Senators. I kuow it is not. But 1 do not believe that either of them represented the principles 
of any considerable portion of the people of that State. While Pennsylvania would go, as I would, to 
the verge of the Constitution and of her jyrinciples, to maintain peace, I believe it is a libel on the good 
name of her virtuous people to say that she would sacrifice \ier principles to obtain the favor of rebels. I 
believe it to be a libel on her manhood to say that she will purchase peace by unprincipled concessions to 
insurgents with arms in their hands. If I thought such was her character, 1 would expatriate myself. I 
would leave the land where I have spent my life from early manhood to declining age, and would seek 
some spot untainted by the coward breath of servility and meanness. To her pleasant valleys I would 
prefer the rugged, bold State of my nativity; nay, any spot in (he most barren Arctic regions, amid 
whose pure icicles dwells manly freedom. 



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